Cabu Cabins review: Kid-friendly luxury camping a few hours from London

Grace Timothy and her husband find the perfect balance of adult-friendly luxury and kids' entertainment on the Kent coast 
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Grace Timothy26 August 2019

When it comes to holidays, I like a city break filled with food and booze. I also like a pool, with plenty of cocktails, and a beach with a dash of rum. I basically like to get drunk on holiday. Drunk and lazy, and largely away from other people and their children.

Of course, this had to change when my daughter arrived. My husband and I persevered for a few years, with short breaks in the coffee bars of New York and Florence, but ultimately, she doesn’t find that stuff as riveting as us.

She’s now six and three quarters and wants to go to Centre Parcs to frolic in woodland, ride bikes and horses, and swim. We’re under a lot of pressure. With every schoolmate who comes back from half term with an NVQ in kayaking or a new jewellery line fashioned entirely from dried Rigatoni, we feel our resolve to remain idle and drunk slipping.

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And now suddenly Butlins is en vogue again, too. Even the too-cool-for-Mark-Warner types are donning their verruca socks and posing on those giant deck chairs. On their return they routinely crow, “It’s got something for everyone!” and I start to wonder if I too should career down the flume of organised fun into the pool of other people’s kids.

But is that it for me, now? Will I be saving all year for a weekend of sporting pursuits and foraging for…what, chips? Is that what everyone is doing? Where does your average composting, Aperol-sipping millennial parent go for a break with the kids, when they’re trying to keep their carbon footprint down and their Instagram feed popping?

They’re going to Cabü Cabins, a 10-acre gated community of eco-conscious cabins built along the Kent coast under the guise of ‘Shoreditch by the sea’.

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It’s partly a ‘try before you buy’ show village (you can buy your own Cabü Cabin to enjoy at home), but thanks to its position on the beaches of St Mary’s Bay and its chic pool it’s become a firm favourite with city-dwelling weekenders in the 7 weeks since its launch. It sounds perfect. Getting back to nature with the kid, whilst lying in an oversized bed of Egyptian cotton.

The lowdown

Cabü Cabins is the hidden gem of Romney Marsh. Literally hidden – there’s no signage so you’re advised to look out for the black fences to mark out your destination.

From the minute the gates close behind you, you’re in another world. The landscape is stark – it’s all pebbles and Marram Grass and thistles between the various modular buildings - very Derek Jarman-esque, and I imagine suitably moody when the cabins’ wood burners are lit in the winter.

You’re immersed in nature, in the domain of several hundred rabbits judging by the warrens, with the sound of waves crashing just beyond the sea wall. I also saw an earwig. But ultimately all this outdoorsy-ness is to be digested from the comfort of Loaf furniture, Weaver Green cushions and crisp white bed linen.

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Tin cups and a mini camper oven hint at the fact that you’re almost camping, but it’s like the homeopathy of roughing it – a very dilute memory of your Duke of Edinburgh expedition wrapped in a fluffy white robe.

And there’s Wi-Fi, so thank f*ck you only have to pretend to go off-grid while you’re there.

The food

It’s a self-catered affair, but at Cabü House – the central hub where you’ll find reception and a vat of cucumber water – you can buy charcuterie; local cheeses; fresh fruit and vegetables; meat and fish for the communal ‘Sitooterie’ BBQ facilities, and a whole host of other groceries, from the essential (coffee and bread) to the sublime (Aperol and organic ice cream).

If you’re still hungry for more, all the major supermarkets are minutes from Cabü Cabin’s black gates, and there’s a host of restaurants and pubs in the local area.

The facilities

Beyond the pools (and a hot tub if you’re lucky enough to land the right cabin), there are none. And that’s kind of the point.

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I felt bad asking for a hairdryer, but all was forgiven when I proudly produced all my compostables and recycling at check out.

Granted, we did watch a bit of Netflix, but otherwise the order of the day was very much walking, swimming, eating and playing cards, with a pit stop at Camber Sands, one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in the south and just 20 minutes away.

And crucially for the Centre Parcs crew, so I hear, you can rent bikes from Cabü House.

For kids

It’s a neurotic parent’s dream come true: all the toys (wooden), food (organic) and dairy-free milk alternatives you need to keep your little ones happy.

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The swimming pool is gated, and warm-ish. There’s a good range of activities locally, both for older kids - electric bikes, kite surfing, an aqua park – and young ones - boat trips around Dungeness, a nature reserve, rides on the Romney Hythe Dymchurch Railway - but they’re all hidden behind a veil of suburbia so your kids won’t have to pass a slot machine or a rallying red coat signing you up for a show every time you head for tea.

And most importantly perhaps, there’s a TV in every cabin.

The rooms

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The collection of energy-efficient modular buildings range in size, but all are so beautifully styled with a sense of understated luxury and quirky touches, from telescopes to a mezzanine bedroom hidden in the eaves. While some cabins have more than one bedroom and are equipped with bunk beds, you can also request a cot or z-bed to be added to a single for your kids.

Getting there

St Mary’s Bay is a couple of hours drive outside of London, or it’s an hour on the train from St Pancras to Folkestone Central, with a 20-minute cab journey tagged on to the end.

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